


All Of The Stars

by FreedomBooksFlowers



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 2000s, Adults, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Sirius Black, Coming Out, Falling In Love, First Love, Friends With Benefits, Friendship, Gay Remus Lupin, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Letters, Love, Love Story, M/M, Music, Romance, Teens, Texting, Time Skips, friends - Freeform, muggle, penpals, slices of life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:27:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28818519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreedomBooksFlowers/pseuds/FreedomBooksFlowers
Summary: A love story through the ages. Remus and Sirius meet when they're twelve and Sirius has to spend the summer on the island of Hogsmeade. Over the years they come together and fall apart.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	All Of The Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Keep an eye on the tags, I will be adding more as we go on.

Biting his lip, Sirius peered out of the window of the car as he traveled towards the ferry. His mother was next to him as she rattled off the rules she expected him to uphold for the summer even though he was going to be staying on a farm. It was meant to be a punishment for his bad behavior at school for the year, but he was not going to be telling Walburga or Orion that staying home would have been far more of a punishment.

“I expect you to listen to Mrs. Lupin and do as you are told,” she repeated for the millionth time as the driver put the car into park.

“Yes.” He nodded, his eyes searching through the people milling about, wondering what woman was going to be there. Sirius assumed she was probably just as bad as his mother, why else would she take a child to work on a farm for a summer?

“Come along, Sirius.” His mother slipped out of the opened door without a look back at him.

Once he was out of the car, Sirius took a deep breath. The beach was always his favorite place, and to be on a small island for a summer surrounded by the smell and the sound of the sea was going to be great. Even if the woman ended up being terrible, Sirius was going to be able to be outside, not stuck inside the suffocating walls of Grimmauld Place. His mother was not going to be around to tell him how horrible he was at everything and his father wouldn’t be there to smack him across the mouth when he tried to stand up for himself.

Trailing after his mother, Sirius dragged his bag behind him. One of its wheels had broken when his father tossed his luggage down the stairs the night before, so it was making a terrible scraping sound on the pavement. The noise was so loud and annoying that it managed to drown out his mother. All he could hear was the grinding as the vibrations of the handle started to make his hand going a bit numb.

Too concentrated on his luggage, Sirius didn’t realize his mother had come to a stop until he walked into her. “Sorry, I’m sorry,” he said immediately in the hope she wouldn’t lash out at him.

Walburga sent him the coldest look, but didn’t say a word. Though there was a snort of a laugh that was let out in front of them. Sirius’ eyes snapped up to see a boy with shaggy brown curls, grinning then trying to keep a straight face when the woman next to him nudged him.

“Hi Sirius! You must be Walburga, nice to meet you.” The woman’s hand shot out towards his mother.

In his mother’s usual style, she ignored the gesture and cleared her throat. “I’ll be in contact to make sure that Sirius is doing as he should. He’s promised to listen and follow any direction you give. This isn’t a vacation, he understands that.”

The woman’s eyebrow quirked up. “Of course, Mrs. Black.” She sounded like she was putting on some grand voice. Sirius had to bite his lip just not to laugh.

“Good. I’ll see you in about a month.” She nodded before turning on her heel and taking off.

Sirius looked over his shoulder as the boy let out another laugh. 

“That was pleasant.”

“Remus John,” the woman let out an exasperated sigh.

“What, I’m just saying…”

Sirius couldn’t help the smile that blossomed across his face, watching the boy with the messy curls. He was wearing an Oasis shirt with the print all faded and cracking. “She’s like that.”

The woman smiled at him. “Well, Sirius it’s nice to meet you. I’m Hope and this is Remus. I promise you’re not going to be working very hard at all.”

He let out a long breath, his shoulders relaxing. “Oh, right.”

“Our exchange thing is meant to be more of a cultural thing.” She patted his shoulder. “Remus, can you get the poor boy’s bag? We need to get on the ferry so we don’t miss it.” Hope gestured to the ferry behind her.

“No, it’s okay, I got it.”

“You were struggling, dear, at least let him help.”

“Yeah, looks like your wheel is broken. I bet I could try to fix it.” Remus looked at the bag before grabbing the small handle at the bottom.

Hope nodded, smiling softly as Sirius lifted once Remus did. “Remus is very handy, always messing about with things. I’m sure he’ll be dragging you into his experiments.”

Remus huffed, trudging behind Sirius as he followed Hope over the ramp that clattered under their feet. This whole situation was so strange, but Sirius felt relieved to be with these two complete strangers. The fact that Remus made that quip about his mother put him at ease, and Hope gave off this motherly aura like James’ mum did when he met her — something his mother never gave off in her life probably.

The ferry was quiet as it was only mid-day. The traffic on and off the islands were probably busier during rush hour. Sirius settled down on a wooden seat near a window with Hope and Remus. Hope chattered on the whole while about Hogsmeade, and how he was going to have a fantastic summer. There were events and beaches and good food all around. Plenty of sights to see, and plenty to do.

Apparently all of Remus’ mates were interested in meeting him. That made his stomach go all twisty because he was never one to have many friends. James and Peter at school were his only real friends and he had just made them less than a year ago. Reggie, his little brother, probably didn’t count as a friend because they were siblings. Growing up he was taught not to trust anyone, that people that were not family were not worth his time. Now he was starting to realize that wasn’t true, but he had no real clue how to make friends.

As they grew closer to the island of Hogsmeade, Sirius could see the spit of land up ahead. It had taken them over an hour to get there, Hogsmeade being the last stop on the route. The location was far off from the busy streets of London where Sirius had grown up, watching the people milling about outside his window. It wasn’t different from where Hogwarts was in the far north of Scotland. It was an island located between England and France with rolling hills and rocky shores. It looked like something out of a storybook his nanny used to read to him at night.

Getting off the ferry, Sirius looked around at the village in front of him just off the port. He did his best to keep up with the Lupins as Remus helped him carry his bag up the cobblestone path towards a small parking lot where an old beat up truck was. It was no doubt the Lupin’s, not only because they were heading towards it, but because it  _ had _ to be something farmers drove. Who else would drive a truck with a bed in the back covered in mud?

“We can ride in the back up to the farm.” Remus opened the hitch before jumping up into the bed, dragging the luggage up with him.

“Just stay seated, dear? I don’t need you tumbling out on your first day.” Hope chuckled as she went for the door. Remus offered Sirius his hand to help him up.

Instead of making a snide remark about how he didn’t need any help, Sirius took the offered hand to get up into the bed of the truck. He found over the school year that being nice was actually helpful in gaining and keeping friends. Even though he didn’t know Remus, he figured it was important to get along with him when they would be spending the next six weeks together.

“So, what do you like to do?” Remus asked as Sirius settled down into the dirt and bits of hay. He tried not to grimace because he never was able to get dirty growing up. Now maybe he could… he was going to be on a farm after all.

“Ah, I don’t know? I like listening to music.”

“We don’t have much for concerts around here.”

Sirius shrugged. “I’ve never been to one, so that’s okay.”

“Oh, they’re brilliant. Mum loves music, and Dad did too. They took me to see Oasis the other year.”

He tried not to latch on to the fact that the Remus said that his Dad  _ did _ too, as in past tense. There hadn’t been any mention of Mr. Lupin either, so something had probably happened. “Is that where you got that shirt?”

“Yeah.” Remus looked down at it with a smile, which seemed to fade for a moment. “It’s pretty worn.”

“It’s cool.” Sirius ran a hand through his hair. “I got a Sex Pistols shirt, but I had to hide it from my mom so I can’t wear it at home.”

“When do you wear it then?” He glanced back up at Sirius as bounced up in the air.

“Sorry about the bump!” Hope shouted from inside the car.

Sirius shifted a little, trying to get comfortable as they rode up past the village. “At school, during free time.”

“I guess you have uniforms?”

“Real posh ones. They even come with hats.” Sirius grimaced.

“Ew.”

“You don’t have to wear uniforms when you go to school here?”

“Nah, no uniforms.” Remus shook his head then pointed behind Sirius. “That’s my best mate Lily’s house.”

Sirius glanced over his shoulder to see a large stone house with a garden in front of it. It was nothing like he was used to seeing, and he was sure that the Lupin’s place was going to be much of the same. It was an actual farm too, so it was probably even more different. “How far do you live from here?”

“Maybe a 5 minute drive.” Remus shrugged a shoulder. “It’s a lot different from your hometown?”

“I’m from London.” He watched a random house go by, mostly hidden by trees or tall bushes. Every so often they would drive by a person and Hope would honk and they’d all wave and say hello.

“Totally different.” Remus made a face.

“I go to school up in Scotland in the middle of nowhere… this isn’t like that either.”

“Do you think it’s going to be boring? I’m sure you hate your mum for sending you here.” He pulled his legs up, wrapping his arms around his knees.

Sirius looked out over the horizon where the water was lapping up against the shore below the slope of the hill they were driving on. “I think it’s going to be different… in like, a good way? I don’t mind that she sent me here.”

“No offense but she doesn’t seem really nice.”

“That’s an understatement,” he muttered, keeping his eyes fixed on the sun drenched surroundings.

“Oh, sorry.”

“It’s fine, I don’t have to see her much.”

The rest of the ride was quiet, only the sound of the rocky road under the tires and whistling of the wind. Sirius wondered if maybe he said something wrong about his mother. He really didn’t like her. Throughout his entire life, he knew that his parents weren’t the best, but going to boarding school only made things more obvious. He was going to spend the next few weeks not thinking about his home life though, because he was only going to have to deal with them for a couple more days when he left Hogsmeade before going back to school.

It didn’t take much longer for the truck to pull up in front of a stone cottage. There were flowers everywhere in front of the house. Just behind it, Sirius could see another building, which probably held whatever animals they had on the property. Just near the truck on a large tree was a swinging bench. Sirius could see Hope sitting there drinking her coffee in the mornings.

“Welcome to your home for the next few weeks.” Hope grinned as she shut the door. “Come on, we’ll get you all settled into your room then we can have some tea.”

Sirius let Remus and Hope lead the way inside as he and Remus carried the bag again. The inside of the cottage was small, cozy with little nooks to sit and so many pillows on the sofa. In the corner of the living room was a bookshelf full of records and another full of books on the other side of a window. The house smelt like fresh baked bread and chocolate, which grew stronger as they got into the kitchen. The kitchen was just as comfortable and homey as the front room.

Hope said something about getting the tea ready and told Remus to show Sirius to his room. Sirius was too busy taking in the cottage filled with books and knick-knacks all over. After taking the creaky, steep stairs up to the second floor, Remus went to the room at the end of the hall and led Sirius in.

“Okay, here we are. All yours. The bathroom is across the hall.” Remus set his end of the bag down. 

“Right, thanks.” He put his luggage on the small twin bed with brightly colored bedding that was pushed up against the wall. The room was much smaller than his one at home, and even the dorm room he shared with Peter and James, but there was something about the way it felt.

There was something warm and comforting in the room — in the whole house. It was as if the love of the Lupins was in every single little crack of the house. All the happiness that lived there made everything light, compared to the heaviness he felt whenever he stepped into Grimmauld.

“I’ll see you down stairs?” Remus asked.

“Yeah, sure.” Sirius nodded then bit his lip before Remus left him in the room alone.

***

Remus looked back to Sirius one more time, who was just standing in the middle of the room. His brain was shouting about how the other boy was probably judging their house and how it wasn’t all posh like his house or the boarding school he went to. Sirius seemed just fine, even if his mother seemed like a jerk.

“His mum seems terrible,” Remus whispered as he came into the kitchen where his mum was cutting up her caramel drizzle cake.

Hope rolled her eyes. “Remus, you can’t be saying that about people you don’t know, especially about someone’s parents…”

“You agree.” He sat down at the small table by the window, putting his chin on his hand. His mom didn’t say a word, but he could see her smile. “Do you need help?”

“No, just waiting for the kettle to go.” She glanced towards the stairs. “You need to make sure you include him.”

“I will. He seems all right.”

“Poor thing needs to have a good time.”

“We’ll give him one, I think.” He knew nothing about Sirius outside of the fact that his mom seemed horrible and he was sent away from his home for a summer. That must have felt like crap to be cast away from your family, Remus thought. He had always been close to his parents and never really saw any parent treat their kid that bad. All his mates had decent parents, though his were the best. Well, his Dad was when he was around. His mum still was, even though she got sad sometimes still.

There were footsteps on the stairs, Remus wondered what it felt like to be living with strangers for weeks on end. He would have been terrified. It’s not like he’s scared to travel off the island, he’s done that plenty. Being by yourself with a couple strangers had to be the worst feeling. Hopefully Remus could get on with Sirius and have fun with him.

“Sirius, we’ve got some cake for you dear, and some tea.”

The other boy looked at them both with wide eyes. “Yeah? That sounds really nice, thank you.”

“Remus, love, you need to take some lessons in manners from Sirius.”

“I’m not sure about that.” He chuckled as he took a seat next to Remus.

“No, no, dear, you’ll see.” Hope grinned as she came over with the cake, setting it down before going back to fix the tea. “Take a piece.”

“It’s really good.” Remus reached for a plate, handing it to Sirius before taking his own.

“It smells really good. Did you bake this?” Sirius asked Hope, looking down at the cake.

“Mum’s the best baker. I’m pants at it.”

“Remus can’t do a thing with baking, the poor boy. Maybe I’ll have someone to teach my ways.” She did something funny with her eyebrows as she set the tray down on the table.

One time Remus managed to set some cookies on fire, since then his mother had banned him from the kitchen. “I’m not even allowed near the baking, she glares at me.”

Sirius laughed before Remus’ mum asked how he took his tea. “I’ve never baked before, but I think I’d like to learn,” he said after Hope went to pouring Sirius’ tea.

“We can teach you plenty.”

“When I’m not working on the farm?” Sirius shifted a little before taking the offered cuppa.

“Don’t worry, Sirius, we don’t have to do too much. We have people who help out n the farm.” Remus shoved a forkful of moist caramel cake into his mouth. “Mmm, so good.”

“At least you can appreciate the cake.”

“Remus appreciates the cake — probably a bit too much.” His mum took a sip of tea as Sirius took a bite of cake.

“Oh, wow, this is so good,” he said with a groan.

“The best.” Remus looked at his mum with a big grin.

Once they finished the cake and tea, chatting the entire time, his mum sent them outside for Remus to give Sirius a tour of the farm. As they made their way through the farm, Remus introduced Sirius to the goats — Rowena and Helga — and the cows — Poppy, Minerva, Pomona, and Hooch. The chickens and roosters were happy to have Sirius feed them, and the pigs were thrilled to nudge at Sirius’ legs. The ram, Salazar, was a bastard as usual and nearly took Sirius out.

“He hates me.” Sirius laughed as they hopped over the fence, his cheeks red from running.

“He hates everyone, except Benjy who works on the farm. The other people who work here don’t even want to go near the bastard.”

Sirius’ eyes widened.

“Do you not swear at your posh boarding school?” Remus raised an eyebrow, knowing his mother would tell him off for swearing, but she wasn’t there.

“I’m surprised that your mum lets you.”

“Well… I mean, I don’t swear in front of her but I don’t think she’d be too mad. I could be doing worse.” Remus reckoned if he was out being a troublemaker in the village or something terrible then she’d be angry. A swear was probably the least of her worries, even if she told him off for it.

“My mother would not like it.”

“Your mother isn’t here for six weeks, and my mom wouldn’t grass you up.” Remus put his hands in his pockets as he led Sirius towards the field where they grew their fruits and veggies. Emme, Benjy, and Caradoc were all off at wherever they were boarding. The three were there from an organic farming network for a year or two. It was good to have help before, but since his dad died it was even more important. His mum and him couldn’t do everything on the farm

“Your mum seems cool.”

“She’s pretty cool, yeah.” Remus kicked a rock in the dirt, causing a plume of dust at their feet. Sirius’ pristine tennis shoes were going to be just as dirty as Remus’ converse soon enough.

“Are all those records hers?”

“Some were my dad’s.” He frowned a little. “My dad died two years ago.” Remus figured that he’d come out and tell Sirius because he was probably wondering.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Sirius bit his lip.

“It sucks, but he was really ill, so it’s almost better.” He twisted the hem of his baggy shirt around his finger. “I miss him, I mean, but… yeah.” There was this big gap in his life since his father passed away two years ago, but he was less sad as time went on. His mum was too, but he missed him a lot and got sad sometimes when he thought about him.

“I’m still sorry. I’m sure he was as great as your mum.”

“He was. He probably would have made you do something ridiculous by now. I don’t know what, but he was always getting into things.”

Sirius perked up a little. “Like pranks?”

Remus laughed, nodding as they made it past the field towards the sloping hill that looked down at the beach that he liked swimming at. All his mates were going to go down there tomorrow to meet Sirius, they were probably dying to come meet him as if Sirius was some alien from another galaxy.

“Yeah, like pranks. I like pranks too. I got in trouble the last day of school for gluing some of my teacher’s supplies to her desk.” Remus came to a stop then sank down into the grass.

Sirius sat down next to him. “That’s brilliant!” He leaned forward. “I flooded the girls bathroom with bubbles.”

“Oh, we’re going to have a lot of fun.”

“Yeah we are!”

***

When Sirius woke up the next morning, he forgot where he was for a few minutes before taking in the small room with the red, purple, and blue duvet. The window was wide open, and he could hear the rooster crowing in the yard and the goats making their noises. He didn’t know what the noise was called, but he was probably going to learn.

Thankfully, Hope was making breakfast when he managed to make his way downstairs. Any awkwardness that he had been feeling the day before all but disappeared when he stepped into the house. The Lupin home made Sirius feel as if he had always meant to be there. It helped that Remus and Hope spoke to him as if they knew one another, it reminded him of James for some reason.

Just before breakfast was ready Remus came down with his curls all messy and lines all over his face. Sirius was sure that Remus was half asleep still as he ate the eggs and bacon while Hope chattered away with a Janis Joplin album on in the background. There were so many ways that the breakfast was the opposite of breakfast with the Blacks. Normally that was silent and at the long table that made Sirius feel small and lonely even with his parents and Regulus there. His father would be drinking coffee and reading the paper. His mother would pick him and Regulus to pieces or share some family gossip. It was as if Grimmauld was black and white and the Lupin cottage was in the brightest technicolor.

After they ate, Remus showed him how to feed some of the animals and take care of their stalls. The smell was so pungent and disgusting, but Remus told him that he’d get used to it soon enough. Sirius wasn’t so sure about that, but the work wasn’t that hard and he got to play with some animals. The goats and chickens really liked him according to Remus, but the bloody ram was evil.

Dealing with the animals was the least stressful part of the day. Once he was showered and changed, he was going to go meet Remus’ mates. There were eight of these other kids. He didn’t understand how someone could have that many friends. It seemed like that was too many. They couldn’t be really friends, could they?

“Sex Pistols shirt is a good choice, Frank’s mad for them.” Remus appeared in the doorway of Sirius’ temporary bedroom.

“Yeah?” Sirius frowned down at his shirt.

“Don’t worry, they’ll like you.” He rolled his eyes as he pushed off the doorframe. “Lily will ask a ton of questions because she’s curious about who you are. Marlene will want to be your best mate. Frank will talk for ages about music with you. Alice will be quiet, but nice. Dorky probably will be swimming most of the time along with Gid and Mary. Fabian will ask you dumb questions about going to a boarding school, but he’s not taking the piss— he’s just an idiot.”

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck before taking a deep breath. “Okay, let’s go.” He moved out of the room past Remus. The quicker they went, the faster they got there and got this all over with.

They walked down to the beach through the green rolling fields and then over a rocky path. As they round the path Sirius could see the group already gathered on towels. Two of the others were in the water, three of them were kicking around a football, and the others were sitting on the towels. Music floated up to Remus and Sirius, and as they got closer he could hear The Clash playing. At least the group had good taste in music. His mother would have hated it.

“HEY! THERE THEY ARE!” A short blonde girl in a yellow dress yelled, jumping up and down.

“That’s Marlene. She’s loud.”

Sirius’ stomach twisted and his palms were a little sweaty like they were the first day he arrived at Hogwarts last September. Remus seemed to like him, so maybe his friends would too. He wanted to pretend that he didn’t care about what people thought of him, he wanted to dig in and say that he was a Black, so it didn’t matter what these people thought of him. It wasn’t that easy because he didn’t want to feel that way. Sirius had this need to not be like his family.

“You must be Sirius!” Another girl with dark red hair and pretty green eyes came over to them before Remus and Sirius stepped onto the sand.

“Yeah, hi.”

“I’m Lily!”

“Right, Remus’ best mate?”

She nodded, grabbing his wrist and pulling him along. “Yeah, I am! I’m glad he told you that properly.”

The sand sank around his feet, little pebbles tricking into his trainers that were grimy after just one day of walking around the farm. He wished that he had the chance to take off his shoes as he walked over to the group. The two people that were in the water had already got out and were walking over to the rest at the towels. 

They all looked as if they belonged there with tanned shoulders and freckles on their cheeks. All of them were in simple clothes that most of the people at his boarding school or in his family circle would look down their noses at. Sirius thought they looked how he wanted to feel, at home and comfortable in the sun by the sea.

“Hi Sirius!” The blonde girl, Marlene, grinned once Lily let go of his wrist.

“Hey,” two ginger twins spoke at the same time. One of them was toweling off, and the other had the football tucked under his arm.

“That’s Fab and Gid, and we have no idea which one is which.” A brunette girl with dark skin shrugged her shoulder. “I’m Dorcas.”

“I’m Mary and this is Alice.” A girl in a flowy skirt and loose tank top put an arm around another girl with short brown hair.

“And I’m Frank, nice shirt mate.” Frank pointed at Sirius’ God Save The Queen shirt.

“Thanks, Remus said you have good taste in music.” Sirius gave a little wave at them all as Remus was toeing out of his shoes.

“Can we not sit here and stare at Sirius because it’s sort of weird.” Lily nudged one of the twins in the shoulders.

“He just got here, it can’t be that weird. Is it weird?” Marlene furrowed her brow, sitting down. “Either way, have some blueberries because they’re delish.”

“Do you want to play footy?” The other twin, who was not already going for the water, asked.

“Oh, ah…”

“We could talk about music.”

“Will you all stop making it seem like we’ve never met a person off the island before?” Remus smacked the ball out of the twin’s arm then ran after it, Dorcas and Frank following after him.

“Good, now we have you where we want you.” Marlene grinned as Sirius looked to the two swimming then to the four playing footy. He liked footy, but didn’t know how they could play with sand in their shoes without going mad.

He sank down onto the towel with Lily and Marlene. “Here, soda?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Sirius took the offered can, which was covered in condensation.

“How was your first day at the Lupin’s? Isn’t Hope amazing?” Lily popped a blueberry into her mouth as he cracked open the can.

Sirius took a sip of the cold fizzy drink, not realizing how much he needed it. It was so warm out in the midday sun. “Yeah, she’s really nice. She’s a really good baker.”

“Have you had her lemon squares?” Marlene leaned forward, eyes wide.

“No.” He shook his head. At the rate that Hope seemed to bake things, Sirius was positive that he was going to get those soon enough. 

Never in his life did he think he’d be sitting on the beach with people like this. Not that they were bad people, they were just people that he shouldn’t like according to his family. How his mother thought this was a good idea — six weeks on an island with these people. Granted, she probably thought he was going to be working and breaking some type of child labour laws. He wondered if Hope lied to his mother about what it was like there.

“If she does can you pleeeeeaaaasse come bring some to me. They’re the best things that she makes.” Lily nudged a bowl of fruit towards Sirius.

The rest of the afternoon flew by. Eventually Sirius took his shoes off and played some footy with the others. He dipped his toes in the water, not wanting to dive in like everyone else did because he wasn’t wearing his swim trunks. Remus said that they could come swimming tomorrow or whenever because they had all summer after all.

Sirius was surprised that the group seemed to actually like him. Frank did talk his ear off about music, and Remus joined in on it. He learned that Gid was an inch taller with a scar over his eyebrow. Other than that the twins were basically the same. Mary told Sirius that she was learning about wicca from books she found in the library. Marlene was loud, but Sirius thought that she was cool, and wanted to be more like her.

“How was it?” Hope asked from the swing in the garden when Sirius and Remus came into view.

“They didn’t murder Sirius or anything.”

Hope shook her head. “I can see that, dear. I’m glad they didn’t.”

Sirius laughed, realizing the knot in his chest was gone and his stomach wasn’t twisting any longer. It was only about twenty four hours that he had been there, and he never wanted to leave.

***

“Do you want to go to the house?” Remus asked from where he and Sirius were perched on the low rock wall. They had gone down to the village to see Dorcas, Mary, and Frank at the ice cream shop. They showed Sirius around the village because they spent most of the last two weeks up at the farm or on the beach. Sirius’ pale skin was now just as tanned as his.

Sirius had been so quiet the first few days, but now he was out of his shell — as his mum said. He was more fun and Remus thought at the beginning of it all. Then again, Remus probably would have been more silent and awkward than Sirius if it was him in the same position as Sirius.

“That one that you told me about?”

He nodded. “It’s got a treehouse in the back, but it’s so run down.”

“I still want to see it.” Sirius jumped off the wall, landing on his hands and knees. He stood up, dusting off his dirt covered knees. “We have to go back soon though because your mum’s teaching me how to make those cookies with the jam in the middle.”

Remus scoffed, but didn’t say anything because it was probably the best parent interaction that Sirius had ever had with anyone before. Any time he talked about his mum or dad, he got this weird look in his eye like he didn’t even want to think about them. Remus couldn’t really describe it. His mum was the best, so he didn’t want to make Sirius feel bad about it.

“It’s just through that path over there.” He hopped off the same way Sirius did.

“It’s not that far from your house. How come we haven’t gone there?” Sirius raised an eyebrow, the overgrown grass tickling at their legs.

“You haven’t wanted to do anything but swim or hang around the house.”

Sirius shoved his shoulder before running up ahead.

“You don’t know where you’re going!”

“It’s just through those trees! I can see it,” he shouted back as Remus tried to catch up to him.

Jumping over a rock, Remus tried to catch his breath. The air was so thick and humid today that it was like soup. Sirius didn’t seem bothered by it at all as he slipped between the low hanging branches in front of the property. Remus barreled right into him once he was through the trees, not expecting Sirius to just be standing there in the driveway.

“OW!” Sirius yelped as they both hit the ground.

Remus rolled on to his back and off of Sirius as quick as he could, a rock jabbing him. “Sorry!” He scrambled to get to stop the pain of the sharp rock.

“God, Remus.” Sirius slowly got to his feet. “Did you forget how to walk?”

Remus rolled his eyes, offering Sirius his hand to help him up. “Let’s go see if the treehouse is still standing.”

After Sirius got up, they trailed around the house. The place itself was kept up because someone paid Hagrid, a local innkeeper, to take care of it so it didn’t fall to complete ruin. Remus, Fab, and Gid had tried to break in a couple of times, with no luck. The windows were shuttered and the doors all locked. He wanted to get into see what it was like, probably because he  _ couldn’t _ get in.

There wasn’t anything terribly special about the house. It was a lot like the rest of the houses, even a little smaller than some. The stone was the same as the stone from Remus’ house. There was ivy crawling up the side of the house and garden in the back that was taken over by weeds. The most interesting thing about it was the treehouse in the back.

“I always wanted a treehouse. I read about one in a book before,” Sirius spoke quickly as he started to scale the tree with ease.

“Me too, but we don’t have a lot of good trees for it at our house.” He bit his cheek, thinking about his dad. Before he had died in an accident a few years back, he promised Remus he would build a treehouse. That never happened, obviously.

“We just don’t have any trees.” Sirius pulled himself up into the tree house.

Remus followed right behind, the wood rough under his palms. He was going to have a splinter or two, he always did when he left the tree house. The wood was rotting in some places, and cracking apart in others. It was probably stupidly unsafe, but Remus didn’t really care.

“I’d hide here all the time.” Sirius stood up, peering out the little space where the owner probably made a window. “How old is it?”

“I don’t know.” Remus leaned against one of the walls, looking up at the cobwebs that had gathered shining in the light. “Old.”

“What an observation. Reading all that Sherlock Holmes has done a lot for you,” Sirius teased him with a little smirk on his lips.

Remus rolled his eyes and wrinkled his nose. “There’s nothing wrong with reading.”

“Swot.”

Sirius sat down, his legs dangling over the opening to the ladder. “I’d rather listen to music.”

“You can do both at the same time, you know?”

Sirius glared at him. “I bet you do both to impress Lily.”

Remus grimaced. It had been an ongoing joke with Sirius that Remus fancied Lily. He never would, she was like his sister. He never fancied any girl on the island either, which made him wonder if he were weird because all his guy friends had crushes on girls it seemed like. Frank described how he felt about Alice to him once: his insides going all squiggly and light and feeling completely daft. He never felt that way about any girl before.

“For the hundredth time, I do not fancy Lily. She’s basically my sister!”

“Suuurrrre.” Sirius grinned from ear to ear, like he did every single time that he insinuated that Remus liked Lily.

“Well, who do you fancy then? Marlene? You and her are annoying together.” The two were so loud and chatty whenever they were together. It was kind of annoying, really.

“Marlene’s pretty but… nah.”

“Is it someone else?”

“No, there’s a girl at school.” One shoulder shrugged up.

“I’m sure Marlene will be completely heartbroken!”

“Shut up!” Sirius picked up a twig and tossed it at Remus.

He laughed, grabbing it in midair before tossing it back at Sirius.

***

It was just over half way through his time at the farm, and Sirius was already sad that he was going to have to go home. The end of his stay seemed to be coming far too fast, and he was terrified to go home. He knew that there was a slim chance for him to ever come back because his mother was just going to be able to tell that he loved being there. She had a way of sensing when he was in a good mood and ruining it completely.

“There you go, now add the chocolate chips.” Hope was standing next to him, watching over his shoulder as he worked on the brownie bars. Sirius had been baking so often with Hope that even Remus, who seemed to really enjoy baked goods, was complaining about all the pastries laying around.

Baking was fun, though, and Hope seemed to be able to tell how much Sirius enjoyed it. It felt like he was good at it, which he hadn’t found much he was really excellent at before. Not that he was a bad student — he had to be a good student or his parents would treat him worse than they did — but he was never good at something and actually really enjoyed doing it. He wondered if he could bake at school, they did have kitchens…

“I can’t believe you’re making more.” Remus made a guttural noise as if he were in pain.

“Never in your life have you complained about sweet things Remus John.” Hope waved a spoon at him as Sirius continued to fold in the chocolate chips.

“You two should open a bakery.”

Sirius lit up, thinking about how cool that would be to open a bakery. “Yeah, we should.”

“I don’t know about me, dear, but you certainly can.” Hope patted his shoulder. “You can pour that batter out into the pan now.”

“Maybe that’s what I’ll do when I get older… but mother and father want me to work in their business.”

Hope let out a little sigh. “If anything you can do it for fun, right?”

“Why can’t he do it for a job? You always say I can be whatever I want, why can’t Sirius be whatever he wants?” Remus asked from the table where he was reading a book.

Sirius wondered if Hope knew that his parents would never let that happen. The way was set for Sirius once he was born, and they weren’t going to have it any other way. If he wanted to bake, he had to do it on his free time. Plus, they’d say that only women baked, that meant their son did no such thing. He knew he couldn’t tell his parents that this and hanging out with Remus and his friends were mostly what he did at the Lupin’s. They’d somehow get them in trouble because Hope was letting Sirius have fun.

“He could, of course he could.” Hope smiled at Remus then patted Sirius on the shoulder.

Setting down the bowl, Sirius nodded. “Yeah, I totally could.”

“Can I lick the bowl?”

“I thought you were sick of sweets?” Hope shook her head before going over to Remus with the bowl. She set it down then kissed him on the forehead.

Sirius turned away, feeling like he was intruding on some family time.

***

In less than two weeks Sirius was going to be leaving the island, and the farm. Remus was surprised at how sad that he felt thinking about it because when he got there, he just thought Sirius would just provide some entertainment. Now they were mates who spent nearly all their time together. Having someone else around that wasn’t his mum and his age was the best. It made him think less about his dad, and it made his mum happier too.

Since he was going to be leaving soon, Remus realized that he had to fix the broken wheel of Sirius’ luggage. It was a pain to lug around last time, so he figured it’d be nice to do that for him. For some reason he doubted that Sirius’ parents cared at all about his broken wheel.

“Oh, here you are. I wanted to go swimming.” Sirius came into the barn and up to the little work bench his dad used to tinker at.

“I’m fixing your wonky wheel.” He pointed the screwdriver at Sirius. “Why can’t you go by yourself?”

“What if I get eaten by a shark, Remus?” Sirius climbed on top of the table next to his luggage.

He snorted a laugh, Sirius could be a little dramatic, but it was funny. “I don’t think you will, but we can go swimming in a few. I’m nearly done with this.”

“Is the patient gonna survive, doctor?”

“Thankfully, yes.” Remus sighed, trying to put on the best soapy dramatic voice.

“How’d you even fix it?” Sirius peered over.

“I found a wheel that was kind like the other one. It might be kinda wobbly, but I think that it will work out better than a wheel that didn’t want to turn.”

“Brilliant! I’m not very good with fixing stuff like that, but I think I’d like to try.”

“Maybe you can come visit again next year and I’ll teach you how to fix things instead of you learning how to bake.” Remus set the screwdriver down.

“Nah, I like learning how to bake, but I can fix things in between.” Sirius pulled his legs up onto the table. “You mum said that she’s going to send me care packages while I’m at school.”

“Yeah?”

“You could send me letters about how to fix things.”

“That’d be cool,” Remus agreed with a smile, feeling something strange in his chest.

***

Giving up on tossing and turning, Sirius went to stand by his opened window to look out at the hills leading towards the beach. The breeze was doing very little to make the room cooler, but Sirius was used to it now. The heavy, warm air in the room wasn’t why he couldn’t fall asleep. His thoughts were caught on the fact that he was going home in four days.

In four days he wasn’t going to be encompassed in the comfort of Hope. Sirius was going to lose the best mate that he’d met — outside James of course. He was also going to miss all the other friends that he made, and the beach, the village, the tree house at the old house, and the farm. The only thing he wasn’t going to miss was the ram, oh and the smell that Remus had insisted that he would get used to, but he never managed it. All he wanted to do the rest of his life was bake with Hope and listen to music on the beach with Remus. That wasn’t an option though.

Rubbing his face, trying not to cry because he hated crying, Sirius decided to go down stairs to get a glass of water. As he walked through to the kitchen he found Hope standing at the kettle, looking a little sad. Softly in the background there was a record playing that Sirius didn’t recognize.

“Oh, Sirius,” Hope put a hand over her heart, the sadness on her face disappearing.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay, dear. Are you all right?” She smiled, gesturing to the table. “Take a seat and I’ll make you some herbal tea, okay dear?”

Sirius nodded, shuffling over to sit down in the chair that was basically  _ his _ . “I don’t… I don’t wanna go home.” He frowned, not looking up to Hope.

“I’m sorry.” She shook her head, pouring the tea. “If I could, I’d let you stay here with us.”

He sniffled, running a finger over a mark in the wood. “Yeah.”

“I don’t know what it’s like at home, but if anything bad is happening, you can tell me or someone at school.”

Sirius frowned for a moment as Hope set the mugs down on the table. He’d never tell anyone because he’d just be in more trouble. “It’s not that bad. I just rather be here.”

Hope patted his hand, sitting down. “Remus and I will keep in touch, right? Maybe you can come back and do more farm work.” She smiled, knowing full well the farm work was the very least of what Sirius did all summer. “I’ll send you all the best food that everyone in your school will be jealous.”

He nodded, reaching for the mug. “You really mean that I can come back?”

“Of course, dear.”

He bit his lip, thinking about how his parents would never let him and how he’d probably never see or speak to Hope and Remus again after he left. But he wanted… maybe he could try. “Do you have anything I can make a mix tape for Remus with?” He rubbed his eyes.

Hope chuckled. “Yes, of course I do. He’ll love that.”

“Yeah? James, my friend at school made each other mix tapes before the end of the year.”

“Sure, come on, let’s go see to it.”

***

The day to drop Sirius back off with his seemingly awful parents finally came. Remus could tell Sirius was upset too because he was quiet, and Sirius hadn’t been quiet since the first day that he arrived on the island. Now he was sitting on a seat, his forehead on the window of the ferry. Remus glanced to his mom, who was reading  _ Emma _ for probably the hundredth time.

Remus wondered what Sirius was thinking about because it probably was scary to go home to parents who were as mean as Remus thought his mum was. He wanted to ask, but he thought that it was kind of stupid to ask or just kind of intruding. So, Remus stayed quiet and watched the land coming up ahead.

Not long before the ferry docked, Sirius turned to him as he reached into the front pocket of his bag. “I made you a mix tape.”

He shifted, turning to Sirius. “Really?”

“Yeah, it’s the stuff we listened to this summer.” Sirius bit his lip, handing over the cassette to him. The case covered in stickers that Remus recognized from his mum’s crafting stuff.

“Thank you.” He opened the case to see the track listing.

**Tracklist:**

  1. Don’t Look Back In Anger by Oasis
  2. The Good Old Days by The Libertines
  3. Waste of Paint by Bright Eyes
  4. This Is It by The Strokes
  5. Anthem Part 2 by blink-182
  6. Holiday in the Sun by Sex Pistols
  7. I Fought The Law by The Clash
  8. The Young & the Hopeless by Good Charlotte
  9. Fat Lip by Sum 41



Remus grinned as the captain announced it was time to disembark. “Thanks, Sirius.”

“Yeah, mate, of course.”

“Come on you two, we have to get going.” His mum clapped her hands together.

Remus tucked the cassette in his pocket.

As they walked with Sirius off the boat then down the ramp, Remus had a lump in his throat. He was afraid to speak and everything was rushing around him. Before he knew it he Sirius was stopping in front of the horrid woman that had dropped him there. His mum said a few things, and she looked to ignore her.

“Come along, Sirius,” the woman said in a clipped voice.

Sirius looked down for a moment then Remus was surprised by being enveloped in a hug from the taller boy. The shock of it delayed Remus’ response before hugging back, and just a second later Sirius’ mum was pulling him away.

“It’s okay, Remus.” His mum’s arms were around him a second later.

“I know.” He sniffled back tears. “I don’t know why I’m so sad.”

“Because you two got close, dear.” She rubbed his back.

“His mum’s mean.”

“Yeah, she’s terrible. It’s okay we’ll keep in touch with Sirius, all right? We’re going to send him all the care packages we can and you two can exchange music. It’ll be okay. Maybe he’ll be able to come back someday.”

Remus nodded, hopping that it was true because he felt like he never had a friend like Sirius before.

***

Sirius stared at the closed door, the taste of copper still in his mouth. His mother wasn’t happy with the fact that Sirius had hugged Remus when he got off the boat. Hugging wasn’t something he did, but James hugged all the time, and it felt like he needed to hug Remus goodbye. He wanted to hug Hope too, but his mother dragged him off to the car before he could even say goodbye.

The whole ride home was silent. He knew that she was fuming and thinking about everything horrible she could say to him. When they got into Grimmauld, Regulus was waiting for him with a big smile to tell him about the summer camp that he had gone to. Walburga sent Regulus to his room before bringing Sirius to his father’s study. There she berated him for being a terrible child, saying Hope had called to tell her how she hated having Sirius around. He knew she was lying and tried to say that but Orion smacked him.

After more yelling and tearing apart, Sirius was locked in his room with no dinner. So, that was where he was — wishing to be back at the Lupin’s already. Instead of sitting there for too long, he went over to his desk and took out a notebook to start writing to Remus.


End file.
